Sonic Riders is a great underappreciated game!
And remember to Comment, Rate, and SUBSCRIBE!!! :)
It's time for the Sonic Riders review! For the Gamecube!
Sonic Riders is the predecessor to Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity, which I did like, but I enjoyed this game even more! So let's see why!
If you didn't already know, this is a racer where you race on hover boards called Extreme Gear. There is a story in this game, but it's more superfluous than anything else. Dr. Robotnik is hosting a Grand Prix using the Extreme Gear, and the entry fee is one Chaos Emerald. "Oh I wonder!" (Link at the top!) :) Anyway, Sonic and his team eventually meet up with the Babylon Rogues, who are also participants in the race, and they basically hate each other. So yeah, that's the basis of the story.
Extreme Gear uses air as fuel, and your tank will start to deplete as soon as you start riding on the board. Throughout the tracks, there are pit stops you can stop at to fuel up. However, you're most likely not going to need them, and here's why: Each track has many jumps where you can perform tricks on. If you land a trick, your air tank will be filled up so much. If you can land multiple tricks on one jump, your air tank will fill up even more as opposed to you landing just one trick.
There are other ways of gaining air, and it basically all depends on what character type you are during a race. If you're a Speed type, you can grind on rails and vines. If you're a Fly type, you can fly through rings. And if you're a Power type, you can smash obstacles on the course. Each type can gain air through their own way. Personally, I think Power is the best for this game, but Speed is way more fun than any of the three!
There are 16 tracks in this game, which is pretty good, but the thing is, seven of the tracks are very similar to their counterparts. Here's what I mean: In the Story Mode, you get to play the Hero side, and the Babylon Rogue side. There are only five races for each side, so there are ten races in all. Hooray for Math! (Link at the top!) :) Anyway, the five tracks for the Hero side are similar in design to the five tracks for the Babylon Rogue side. Now they're not congruent, but they're definitely similar enough, which is kind of disappointing, because I'd rather have new tracks!
In my opinion, the vast majority of tracks are just too short in length. It would have been nice if they were extended like another 20 seconds worth, for one lap, making the standard three-lap race one minute longer. Again, hooray for math! (Link at the top!) :)
There are rings scattered throughout each track. When you collect 30 of them, your board will be upgraded, which will increase your speed and attack. Your board can be further upgraded when you collect 60 rings, which will of course, increase your speed and attack even more.
Once again, Sonic Team did not disappoint me with the graphics! Everything is colorful and flashy, which is what I'm looking for in a Sonic racing game!
Now when I first played this, I got a little frustrated with the controls, mainly with just the Air Slide, which is turning on sharp corners. To do this, you have to first move the control stick in the direction of where you want to turn, and then you have to hold down the R or L button. The problem is, the R and L buttons are also the brake, and so if you press it first, duh! You'll slow down! Now once you start playing the game for a while, you'll most likely remember not to make that little mistake. And as for the other controls, I didn't have a problem with them.
Like I said before, you can perform tricks every time you go off of a jump. Now for me and my siblings, being able to perform your own tricks is a big pro that Zero Gravity doesn't allow. But in this game, you can, and it is very fun!
Every time you complete a race, you'll be awarded with rings, which you can use to purchase new boards at the shop. My favorite board is the High Booster! Now the sense of speed in this game is already pretty fast, but the High Booster makes it even faster, which is so much fun!
There's something in this game that Zero Gravity doesn't really have, two things really, and the first one is turbulence. Turbulence is an air wave left behind a racer who is going really fast, and you can move into the wave which is very beneficial to you, because not only do you move really fast, but you also don't consume any air in your tank! Two birds with one stone! You can also perform tricks in the wave, which will give you even more air! Three birds with one stone! Why did they take it out of Zero Gravity? Well, ok, Zero Gravity does have turbulence, but nowhere NEAR the amount in this game!
The second thing that Zero Gravity doesn't have is boost! Boosting is exactly what you'd expect: You go faster! They took it out in Zero Gravity which I thought was stupid! Sure, the sequel has Zero Gravity boosts, but my siblings and I agree that the boost in this game has a greater sense of speed, which makes the game more fun!
In addition to Single Player Mode, there's Mission Mode where you can complete MANY different scenarios!
As well as multiplayer races, there are some other modes such as Tag and Survival Mode, as well as a Battle Mode, which are pretty fun for the most part, but in my opinion, it's the races that are the most fun!
Sonic Riders is a great game! Great graphics, very good controls, excellent sense of speed, the trick system adds more depth to the game, great music for each track, and it's just very fun to play!
But the downsides were, that there were not enough levels, when you first play it, the level design has can be a bit tricky to figure out, the sharp turn controls can be a pain when you first play, and, actually, they still can be if you're not careful, and I thought the length of the vast majority of the levels were too short.
But overall, I think it's a great racer! The sense of speed is one of the main reasons I keep coming back to it! Now I know I'm probably going to be asked this, so let me just say it now: I think Sonic and Sega-All Stars Racing is the better racer, for its large amount of content, the track designs, and the track length. But I like the sense of speed way more in Sonic Riders, and to me, that is one of the most important elements in a racer, because, hello! It's a racing game!
I think the problem with people who don't like this game, is that they just don't dedicate enough time to experience it. I'll admit, I thought it was going to be a frustrating game, but I stuck with it, and gave it a chance, and now I really like this underappreciated game!
This game gets a 4/5 with the title of Awesome!
Ratings:
0=COMPLETE AND ULTIMATE FAIL!!!!!
.25-.75=Total Crap!
1-1.5 = Horrible!
1.75-2.5=Bad
2.75-3.5=Good
3.75-4.25=Awesome!
4.5-4.75=EPIC!!!
5=MONUMENTALLY AND SUPREMELLY PERFECT!!!!!